Under a Pale Moon
by Victis
Summary: Weird West, work in progress. Under a Pale Moon is a serial, where stories are told from the perspective of an old Hunter who has seen more than most people ever want to. Each story will hint at and lead in to another. R&R is greatly appreciate.


**Under a Pale Moon**

Clear nights like these are always the worst... No clouds to keep the days heat in; the moon shinin' down on ya like some unholy beacon. It'll get worse 'fore it gets better, kid. Always does. Just wait 'til the snows set in... Makes it damn near unpossible to run if ya gotta. With the critters that come out lookin' for food 'round that time... Well, you'll be needing to run.

Just remember - keep your six loaded and make sure it don't freeze in your sling. If it does, you're as good as gone. Ol' Mac used to fill his sling up with some 'shine... keep the ice from settin' in. He used to swear by it, right up until that damn wolf come up on him. Ol' Mac drew, his six come up slick as shit, and when that hammer dropped his gun went up in a blaze. Lost his hand 'cause of that one. Ironic part is he'd have been dead if it hadn't done what it done -- soon as them flames went up that wolf turn tail an' run. Scared the hell outta it. "'shine's only good fer drinkin'," s'what he says now.

Why'd I say he'd a been dead from that wolf? Wadn't no normal wolf we was huntin'...

**Chapter 1 - The Wolf**

So me an' Ol' Mac was up in the Bitterroot's when we heard about some problems these folk was havin' with a wolf. First thing on our minds was _Why don't ya just go shoot the damn thing an' be done about it?_ We figured maybe they'd tried, maybe there wadn't a good shot among 'em, or maybe they didn't know the first thing about trappin' a wolf. Kinda strange for folk up in the mountains not to know about them things, but then we figured maybe they was all city-folk up in the rough for some sport, or somethin'. Get'n a taste a country livin' or some such, or buyin' up the land an' tryin' to turn a profit like they're want to do. But that ain't the point.

So we decide we'll go out, get us this wolf, take the money, and head on through. Should be done by lunch, 'n on the road by dinner. Hell, dependin' on how... appreciative the town-folk were, we might even stay a night. Ol' Mac's only question was if they'd let him have the pelt after we showed it off, or if we'd have to leave it behind like some kinda trophy for 'em. He always wanted himself a pair a wolf skin boots. Said he read about it in a book once, some hero with wolf skin boots, but I call bullshit on that. Ol' Mac wadn't exactly the book readin' type.

Well, the mayor wanted to sit with us for a spell, tell us a tale or two about this wolf before we went on out after it. Me an' Ol' Mac decided to oblige him. Figure it's always nice to be nice, and they was offerin' up good money for this thing. So we sit, he brings us in a plate a chow and some good whiskey, and starts in with the tale. Made it seem like this wolf they was wantin' was some kind'a demon instead 'a some animal. You know how city folk are with the tales, though. They get out in the country an' every shadow's got a name. Should'a been with us when we was after somethin' real fun, like the time we was in the Dakotas and heard tales of folk rising up from their graves when the sky was full black. But that's another story. This guy was goin' on about how they'd tried trappin' it, tried shootin' it, tried poison on some meat they'd left out for it. Said ain't none of it worked. The wolf even ignored the kill they left out, like it knew something was wrong with the meat, he said. Said it was a big fucker, too... Real big. Kinda wolf makes a normal wolf look like a pup. Me an' Ol' Mac were having a hard time keepin' the stew in our mouth on account'a we was chucklin' too hard. Lookin' back, we should'a listened a bit better.

We tell him we'll handle it for him, an' Ol' Mac even breaks out his necklace to show him the bear teeth he got himself. Said if he can take a bear one on one, then there was no worry about some wolf causin' us trouble. The mayor just smiled at him, told us we should head out in the mornin', cuz the snows were gonna set in that night. Turns out the good mayor had a weather eye like you wouldn' believe. Snows rolled in hard just before the sun set, and didn't stop 'til just shy a dawn. That night though, me an Ol' Mac got to see this thing for ourselves. This wolf come right down into the city, and it was huge. I seen horses smaller than this thing, and I seen bears friendlier. It tore through the streets, turning over anything got in it's way, and took down one of the beef cows without breakin' stride. I don't mean to say it carried it off, but you seen a cow before I'm sure, and when something hits one of them... well, it stops. This monster didn't. The wolf slammed into it, an' the cow started screamin' like the Devil himself come up to get it. Well... lookin' back it probably was the Devil to somethin' like a cow. But it settled itself in like it was gonna have itself a fine meal, right there with people yellin' an' hollerin'! What kinda wolf ain't afraid a people makin' that kind a racket? Well me an' Ol' Mac come rushin' out of the saloon, him with his six and me with my long-arm, and we decide we're gonna end this thing right here an' now.

I drew a bead on it, and it wadn't tryin' ta run or nothin', just sitting there tearin' chunks outta that cow, so I know I didn' miss. Ol' Mac had ta get a lil closer 'n me, but ain't no man better with a pistol than Ol' Mac, so I know he didn' miss neither. Didn't matter how much whiskey he'd been at. I fire my long-arm, an' Ol' Mac pops off three shots with his six, an' this thing just turn back an' look at us. Got meat from the cow hangin' outta it's mouth, blood all over it's front, and it just growled at us and shot off into the dark. Sounds like a tall tale, don't it? Well it happened just like that, an' there's a whole city of folk to back that up. This thing took four shots from me an' Ol' Mac and just scooted off like it was nothin'.

Next day me an Mac decide we need to have ourselves another sit down with the mayor, find out what the hell is goin' on with this thing. Now, he didn't know us or know the things we seen, so I don't hold it on him none when he laughed at us the way he did. He said he tried tellin' us that this thing wadn't no normal wolf. Said that it showed up the last two winters, started with the livestock, made it real hard for the people to get through the winter. Even with stores they was losing meat, so they had to break out the salt beef an' pork before the first month was up. By January they was havin' to resort to huntin' or starvin'. They had grain, and bread and such, an' you can live off bread an' water if ya need, but they didn' plan for it to go like that so they was worried the food wouldn't last. Right solid fear, ya ask me. Thought a starvin' does things to a person, makes them take risks they wouldn' normally take when they start picturin' a nice dinner.

They'd send people out in pairs, but then the pairs weren't comin' home. So they'd send out the people in fours, two for the huntin' and two to find the other two that didn' come home. Four was a good number, cuz people were comin' home then. But the stories they had weren't somethin' you wanna bring back to a city ready to starve. There was tales of this wolf, how it come down on a huntin' party like they was sheep. Even four men, each with a rifle, wadn't enough to scare it. So they stopped sendin' people out. Come spring, they didn't see it again. Summer was good too, but then fall set in and it decided to come back and see what kind of trouble it could stir up.

See the people by now learned their lesson – they was savin' more, startin' slaughter and such early, putting more meat away just in case this wolf come back. They didn' figure it would, but always safe to be safe. Well sure enough, soon as it started getting' cold and the leaves started to turn, it was back. Started with the livestock again, but this time the people was smarter about it. They'd started leavin' offerin's of sort, pickin' out a good pig or cow or one a the sheep and leavin' it for the wolf in hopes that it'd leave the rest of the herd alone. It worked for a bit, but by about January again things had started to thin. They was lookin' at what they had and they knew it couldn't keep up. So they stopped with the offerin's, and took to postin' guard around the pens. If there was any doubt about the tales the men brought back from those expeditions out after the thing, it was laid to rest. That wolf wadn't afraid of nothin', especially not some guy with a gun.

The wolf started breakin' in'a the pens, grabbin' itself one of the cattle and headin' back out after it'd had it's fill. The people was scared, knowin' it wadn't no normal wolf, and talk of a curse started spreadin' through the town. Shelters was thrown up, and the animals were all kept inside, all the time. Don't know why they didn't keep 'em in like normal folk durin' the winters, but that's lookin' back for ya. Always makes sense when you look back. So they took to keepin' the pigs, and the sheep, and the cows, and the chickens all in, and that wolf didn' take too kind to it. That was the first time it decided to grab itself one a the folk, and take her off in'a the hills. Town mounted a rescue, knowin' full well they wouldn' find her again, but people need hope, and failin' that they need vengeance.

Mayor said a lotta men died that night... The wolf didn't try to hide, just came at 'em, howlin' like a banshee straight from Hell. Most of 'em froze, and them's the ones that died first. There was a fair number a'em though, and they managed to run it off. Got a few days peace from it, too. Figured it was livin' off the ones they left. Me an' Ol' Mac didn't think it right them just leavin' men like that to be food, but he said they was all pretty hurt, and couldn't carry them back on their own. By the time they got back, they didn' want to head back out. Figured there wouldn' be anything left anyway, and even less of 'em would come home the second time. So they hid. Back to the offerings, back to livin' on bread. Come spring, things were better.

So that filled in all the holes for us. Lot of it he told us the night before, but we wadn't listenin' on account of the whiskey an' it soundin' like such a story. Me an' Ol' Mac decided then an' there that we wouldn' be drinkin' no more 'til it was done. ...why you lookin' at me like that? I told ya, they didn' know what me an' him had done, and neither do you. Ain't a lot of people know the things me an' him seen. 'Sides... those people ain't cut to handle it, and we told 'em we'd help. Ain't gonna turn tail first sign a trouble and leave 'em to the wolves. Heh. Just remember to read the fine print before puttin' yer name on a deal.


End file.
